The Time of Your Life
by GeminiPiper
Summary: Prue, who's about to go to college, Piper, Phoebe and Paige agree to have the best summer of their lives. But soon, love, lies, emotions and growing up take the Halliwells on a journey that will change them forever. Teen AU.
1. There Were Bacon and Eggs

**AN: Thanks for clicking this fic!**

"_How many special people change?_

_How many lives are living strange?_

…_Cause people believe that they're_

_Gonna get away for the summer."_

—_Oasis, "Champagne Supernova"_

"Would you rather," Phoebe said, "eat a pound of raw bacon, or chug three raw eggs?"

"Gross, Pheebes." Sixteen-year-old Piper admonished as she stumbled in the room, a large bowl of popcorn in her hands. "Eggs."

"What kind of bacon?" Twelve-year-old Paige asked from Phoebe's vanity. "Like, turkey bacon, or regular bacon?"

"Does it matter?" Fourteen-year-old Phoebe asked, snatching the bowl from Piper's hands.

"Don't tell me you're playing Would You Rather _again_." Eighteen-year-old Prue begged, traipsing into the room with pillows and blankets.

"Shut up." Phoebe countered. "Now, eggs or bacon?"

"Eggs." Piper answered instantly. "Body builders do it." She crossed to the pink painted wall and opened the window there, letting the lacy curtains flutter in the breeze. "Besides, I'm sure that that much bacon could seriously mess up your system."

Paige smiled at her reflection. One of her eyes was covered in blue eyeshadow, while the other eye gleamed gold.

Prue pursed her lips together. "All I'm saying is, that these situations would never happen. And in the case that they did, more often than not, you could get out of them without resorting to either gross alternative. Statistics show—"

"Shut up!" Her younger sisters said in unison.

It was the beginning of summer. It was the last summer that all the sisters would live together like this. Prue was leaving for college—UCLA—in the fall. Piper was picking out her colleges. Phoebe was just trying to get through high school. Paige was still trying to get _to_ high school. The Halliwell sisters were _thisclose_. They did everything together. Now, they'd be forced to do it apart.

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Later when the lights were out and Prue and Piper were sprawled on the floor in Phoebe's bedroom and Paige was in Phoebe's beanbag chair in the corner and Phoebe was hanging with her head of her bed, the sisters whispered to each other. The sleepovers were a regular occurrence, especially in the summer. This was how they told all their secrets. When the night was quiet and they could whisper and not sound silly. This was how they found out Prue had already lost her virginity. That Piper had never been kissed. That Phoebe had a reputation for doing a little more than kissing. And all Paige wanted was a boy to notice her.

"Prue?" Paige asked into the darkness.

"Humm?" Prue answered.

"Are you scared of college?"

Prue laughed. "Scared? Not really. Well, a little."

"Seriously?" Piper asked. "Prue is scared of something?"

"Shut up." Prue said. "Anyway, I'm excited, I think. I mean, I'll get to live on campus, and I think that'll be cool. And there'll be a lot more boys at UCLA than there are at Bay." She meant their high school, Bay High. "And it'll be really different, and I'll have a lot more independence."

"But aren't you _scared_?" Phoebe asked, fluffing her short brown bob.

"Yes. And no." Prue replied, mindlessly making patterns with her fingers. "Anyway, let's not think about that. This is our last summer together, guys! Let's just promise to make it the best one of our lives." She reached her hand out above her head, toward Phoebe and Piper, who was cattycorner to her. "Agreed?"

Wordlessly, Piper stretched out her arm and covered Prue's hand with hers. "Agreed."

Phoebe stretched hers out. "I'm in."

Paige scrambled over and joined them. "Me too!"

Prue smiled, her eyes closed, as though she were about to go to sleep. "To the best summer of our lives."

"The best summer of our lives." And as the moon shone outside, the temperature rose and their cry echoed in the night, silently, all four sisters, felt a chill shoot up their spines.

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To: MissPiperLovesLove

From:YourAgent .com

Dear Piper,

This is regarding an audition for women ages approximately 16 (sixteen)-20 (twenty), in the San Francisco area. The part is a hospital volunteer in a small made-for-TV movie. The auditions are for late summer/early fall. Details will come in another message.

Sincerely,

Derek Mac, YourAgent .com

Piper's cheeks flushed excitedly. This was, quite literally, a dream come true. She'd wanted to act for as long as she could remember. But she was so advanced academically, everybody expected her to be a mathematician, or a teacher or the scientist who found a cure for cancer. That wasn't her at all. So, she'd kept it a secret. But now, she might have a chance. Now might be the chance to tell everyone that acting was her passion.

"What are you looking at?" Phoebe asked, barging into Piper's room a flopping on her bedspread. For as long as she could remember, Phoebe had always loved Piper's room. It had a Zen-rock-country-Manhattan-chic-preppy feel to it that seemed to all go together, because it seemed _real_.

"Nothing." Piper replied hastily, clicking out of her email account. "Just checking my email."

"Anything good?" she asked, fingering the gold crown Piper won when her class did Medieval Games in the sixth grade.

"Nope." Piper lied, pushing away from her desk. She was still in her pajamas and was looking forward to her shower.

Phoebe jumped up. "Well, I just wanted to know if I could borrow your denim shorts. The black ones."

"They're in the drawer." Piper replied. "Have you seen Prue?"

"Yeah, she'd going out to the library."

"Why?" Piper asked. All she'd wanted to do was get as far away from school as she could. She just wanted to forget about it.

"I don't know." Phoebe replied. "Why do you want her?"

"Because, I wanted to know—never mind." She said. The Halliwells had four cars. Prue's stationwagon, Piper's green Honda, Grams' big blue van and the barely there 1975 convertible Piper was restoring. "I'm gonna take a shower and run some errands. Take the shorts."

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Prue pulled up in front of the library, and hopped out of her car. She couldn't believe that she was going to college in the fall. To UCLA. Her dream school. It was still in California, so she wouldn't have to leave the state, yet, it would be far enough away that Grams wouldn't be able to keep constant tabs on her. She couldn't wait. Now, she was at the library, because she wanted to get a jump on some of the literature required for her English class.

She trotted up to the library and went inside, instantly inhaling the smell of books and something very library-ish. She walked over to the computers and clicked into their search. She typed in "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare" and waited for the system to track it down. During her years of high school, she'd had to study William Shakespeare's works, but now, there would be more breaking it down, more analysis. And she was totally up for it. Finally, several copies popped up and directed her to get one.

Prue jumped up, her bobbed hair bouncing and walked over to the shelves and straight to the book. It was heavy in a major way. She sighed and carried it to the front to check it out. As the attendant handed her back her library card, a deep voice rumbled behind her.

"William Shakespeare, huh?"

Prue whirled around and almost collided with Andy Trudeau. Her _ex-boyfriend_ Andy. "Andy," She squeaked, stepping back with the book to her chest, "hi."

He grinned. "Hey."

"Well," she said uncomfortably, "it was nice to see you." She sidestepped around him and walked out of the library. Andy followed her, so it was only polite to stop next to her car and wait for him.

"Don't you want to know what I'm doing back in town?" Andy asked, still wearing that grin.

No, she didn't. "That's a good question." She said. Andy had moved away to Portland, Oregon in the middle of their junior year because his father had been transferred within his company. She was just now getting over him, and it just rekindled old flames. She hadn't wanted to break up; she'd wanted to do the long-distance thing, at least try. But he hadn't, "wanted to be tied down to someone so far away". I.e.: "I want to be able to screw everything that moves without guilt".

"My dad got transferred back, if you can believe." Andy said.

"I thought that you were going to school in Oregon—"

"Change of plans." Andy filled in. "That wasn't what I wanted to do." He shrugged. "I think I'll take a year off, you know. Find myself."

"I have to go." Prue said quickly. She chugged him briefly—managing to whack him on the back with her book—and climbed into the car. As she drove away, her thoughts rushed around in her head. It was classic Andy. He didn't want to be tied down. He didn't want anything that would give him responsibility, make him take the consequences for his actions. She didn't want to be that for him. And she never would be.

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"Grams. Grams. _Grams_." Paige followed her grandmother around the house, up and down the stairs and through all the rooms as she ran the vacuum. "Grams! Pay attention to me!" she shouted, flailing her arms, her red hair flying.

Finally, Grams flicked off the vacuum. "Yes, Paige?"

Paige stopped. "I don't remember."

Grams shook her head and turned on the vacuum again. Paige frowned and flounced down the stairs and away from her grandmother. Paige was tired of being ignored. She was the youngest and the least problematic and everybody thought that was an excuse to pretend she wasn't there. Sighing, she walked into the kitchen.

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Down at the park, Phoebe stood on the swing. She was thinking about changing schools. At her school, she was Freebie. Who just gave it away. Maybe she'd made out with one guy too many. But she was a virgin. She wasn't free. She was…free-spirited. She didn't want to be Freebie anymore.

**AN: Honestly, I have no idea what made me write this. Seriously. First of all, it's a teen fic, second of all it has all four sisters in it, both of those things I'm not particularly fond of. But if you love that please read this fic. It'll be a rocky coasters of sex, lies, love and everything in between. And I hope you'll stay with me till the end. **


	2. Parties Halliwell Style

**AN: Hey! Thanks so much for your reviews! I love you guys!**

"_Everywhere I go, _

_Somebody I know,_

_Wants to come and boogie with me,_

_It's Saturday night and we're gonna have a party."_

—_Aaron Carter, "Saturday Night"_

The next day, Tuesday, Piper merrily out of her car and into San Francisco General's main building. She'd decided to volunteer at the hospital for the summer. All the really famous actors said that you should get as much experience in your roll as possible. What better way to prepare for a roll as _a_ volunteer than _to_ volunteer? She walked up to the front desk, jingling her keys. A large woman in aqua scrubs and close dropped brown hair glared at her.

"Hi." Piper said happily. "Who do I talk to about volunteering for the summer?"

"Me." The woman said. She dug around underneath the counter and came up with a form. "Fill in your information, have your parents sign it, and bring it back to me, Lucy, at this time tomorrow." She deadpanned. "I'll run it through and we could have you in here as early as Thursday."

Piper smiled. "Thank you." As she walked out to her car, she gazed down at the form. Wow. She couldn't believe she was going to do this. She started down the sidewalk and walked promptly into a man.

"Ah, shit!" he exclaimed, jumping away from her as she caused him to spill almost an entire cup of coffee down the front of his clothes and his pristine white coat.

Piper gasped. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry. She pulled a handful of receipts from her pocket and started dabbing at his coat, but he jumped away from her as if he'd been burned.

"Don't touch me." He murmured, slicking a hand down the coat and wicking away as much coffee as possible. "Just…don't." he sighed into his partially empty cup and his aqua eyes teetered on the line between anger and sadness. He must've really needed that coffee. He dropped the Styrofoam cup into the nearby trashcan.

"I'll buy you more." Piper said, near tears. "I'm so sorry, I—"

He waved a hand to stop her, then ran it through his dark blond hair. "Never mind." And he brushed past her on into the hospital.

Piper sighed and willed her shaking chest to stop. She'd always been a people-pleaser and it bother her that somebody thought she was some sort of unpleasant menace. Determined to gain at—at the very least—his forgiveness she went into the hospital as well. But he was gone.

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"I'm telling you Paige, this is going to be the best summer party anyone's ever had!" Phoebe told her sister that night. "I'm serious, a royal blowout!"

Paige rolled her eyes at her older sister's jubilance. "How are we gonna get there, stupid?"

Phoebe rolled her eyes in the exact same way Paige had. "Prue's going. Tammy's older brother, Michael is in Prue's graduating class, so Prue's invited. So by association to Tammy _and _Prue, we're invited too."

Paige still looked doubtful as she watched Phoebe prance around in a too tight miniskirt and her bra. "I don't know, Pheebes. That's like, college kids. I'm not even in high school."

"So what?"

Paige sighed. "Is Piper going?"

Phoebe shrugged and held up a flouncing shirt against her chest. "Who cares? Piper's a homebody anyway, you know that."

Paige hugged her knees to her chest. "Phoebe, we could get in a lot of trouble—"

Phoebe whirled on her. "You know, for someone so dedicated to being like one of the 'big kids', you sure don't act like it." With that, she promptly walked out of the room and into the bathroom.

Paige could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. Who was Phoebe to say those things about her? What did Phoebe know about anything anyway? She was only two years older. Phoebe thought she knew everything just because she went to second base with a sophomore. Phoebe was stupid. Everybody was stupid. She stood up and stormed into her room, promptly slamming it closed.

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Prue tapped on Piper's door. "Come in." Piper called and Prue swung the door open. One lamp sent orange light around the room from the corner. Piper was lying on her bed, her feet at the head and vice versa. Her Ipod was at her side and she bobbed her head with one earbud, ready to listen to Prue with the unoccupied ear.

"Can I borrow that red halter?" Prue asked, already going to Piper's closet.

"Sure." Piper replied, doodling in a notebook.

"You won't believe who I saw today." Prue continued.

"Who?"

"Andy. Trudeau." She added as an afterthought.

Piper's eyebrows shot up. "As in no-more-virginity Andy?"

Prue nodded as she emerged from the closet, halter in tow. "One in the same."

"You're kidding. I thought he moved away."

"He did. He's back."

Piper nodded. "Is he going to that party?"

Prue pursed her lips. "I don't know. I don't care."

Piper's lips twitched in an amused smile. "I see."

"Pips, it's not like that."

"Right."

"It's not."

"Sure."

"It's not!" Prue shrieked.

"_Okay_." Piper consented. "It's not."

Satisfied, Prue walked out of her sister's room.

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"_No_,_ Phoebe_. You're not going." Prue insisted as she clomped down the stairs, her leather jacket chic with her black miniskirt and Piper's red halter.

When Prue had ended her descent and made her way to the door, Phoebe jumped in front of her, blocking her path. Phoebe flung her hands up. "Please?" she pleaded. "Just this once?"

Prue glared at her sister. "No!" She'd just screw everything up.

"Prue, _please_!" Phoebe begged. "Let me go!"

Prue frowned just a Grams passed through. "Prue, it won't hurt to take her with you. Take her with you."

Phoebe smiled triumphantly. Prue sent her a death-stare. "I'm gonna kill you." She deadpanned. Phoebe stopped smiling.

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"Piper!" Grams called. "Dinner's ready!"

Piper went down the stairs. "I'm not hungry." She said, pulling out her form. "But I do want to talk to you."

"Grams!" Paige exclaimed as she bounded down the stairs and into the kitchen. "I was here too!"

"Yes, Paige." Grams consented, grabbing the form from Piper. After looking at it, she glanced at Piper in surprise. "You want to volunteer at the hospital?" Piper nodded hopefully. "But you hate the sight of blood." Piper flinched in surprise and her eyes got a little wider. She hadn't thought about that. She was so busy thinking about the experience she would get, she hadn't thought about her own neurosis.

"I still want to do it Grams." Piper said. "Please? This is really important."

"Are you sure you can handle it?" Grams asked, seizing a pen and poising it above the paper.

No. "Yes, I am. Please!" Piper begged. Grams signed.

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Just as Prue was thinking of all the ways to do away with her sister—ditching the car over a cliff with Phoebe in it seemed very interesting—when she pulled up in front of the party house. It was a large mansion with lights streamed around the building. Phoebe immediately unbuckled her seatbelt and tried to hop out of the car. But Prue grabbed hold of the hem of her skirt at the last moment.

"No drinking. No kissing or touching. No smoking." Prue recited. "Adhere to the rules or I'll find you and take you home."

Phoebe frowned and yanked her skirt out of Prue's grasp and continued up to the party. Prue rolled her eyes and followed after her. As soon as they stepped inside they were bombarded with gyrating bodies, thumping music, yelling and shouting and general chatter. A true high school party. Phoebe smiled and danced into the crowd while Prue scanned it for Andy. He was nowhere to be seen.

Phoebe made her way into the kitchen where a bunch of guys stood around a blender, hooting stupid guy things. One boy in particular manned the blender, adding things until the mixture turned pink. She sashayed over to them and before she could open her mouth and say anything, one particularly tall boy hauled her into their circle. "Hey everybody!" she shouted happily. "It's Freebie!" Everybody did dumb dog barks and wolf whistles.

Phoebe tried to push her way out, but there were too many male bodies. She was trapped.

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Elsewhere in the big house, Prue had spotted Andy hanging on the patio. Why was she here? Did she really want to see him? What was she trying to prove? That she was over him? That she wasn't?

Prue stalked over to him, because she knew she looked good and wanted him to know it too. "Hey, Andy." She conversationally.

He was lounging against the black cast iron railing but smiled at her over his red plastic cup. "Hey Prue!" He grabbed her and hugged her, throwing her for a loop. "What brings you here?"

Prue shrugged. "I had nothing else to do."

He smiled. "We didn't really get a chance to talk at the library. How are things going?"

"Same ole." Prue admitted. "You know, UCLA in the fall—"

Before she got the chance to go on, a cry erupted from inside the house. "Let fucking go of me!" a girls voice rang out. A girl that sounded suspiciously like Phoebe.

Prue swore under her breath and ran into the house, pushing people out her way as she went. Andy followed after her. They arrived to the kitchen where Phoebe was being hassled by a group of boys. Prue's eyes lit up dangerously. "Get the fuck away from her!" she shouted.

The group broke up as Prue and Andy muscled their way into the throng. One boy in particular who had something pink down the front of his shirt had his arms around Phoebe who kept trying to punch and kick him in the genitals to no avail. Andy promptly landed a blow to his face that made him stagger away, releasing Phoebe into Prue's arms who hugged her tight.

"Come on!" Andy growled, ushering the blubbering sisters into Prue's stationwagon Phoebe clambered in the back and Prue jumped into the driver's seat with Andy riding shotgun.

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Later, when Phoebe was safely inside the house, Paige distracting Grams so the crying Phoebe could get upstairs and be consoled by Piper, Prue and Andy stood out on the sidewalk outside their house.

"I just wanted to thank you for what you did tonight." Prue said toying with her keys. "It was really nice of you."

"It was nothing." Andy said, waving his hand.

"No really—"

"It's nothing." Andy insisted. "Phoebe's like a little sister to me. I had to protect her. It was nothing."

Prue smiled. "Well, I just wanted to say thank you anyway." She trotted up the steps to the door. "Goodnight, Andy."

"Night Prue."

**AN: So, what'd you think? Next chappy: Piper at the hospital, Phoebe gets a visitor and Prue and Andy…**


	3. Surprises Generally Suck

**AN: Wassup! How have you been, my friends? Well, I've been fine thanks! Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for all the lovely reviews! I love you guys mucho! **

"_Life, it's ever so strange_

_It's so full of change,_

_You think you've worked it out,_

_Then, BANG"_

—_Jem "Just a Ride"_

That Thursday Piper walked up the hospital. The same woman, Lucy, was sitting at the desk in coral colored scrubs. "Hello." Piper said happily. Wordlessly, Lucy handed her a candy striper's uniform. "You can change over there. She pointed to a row of rods sticking out of the walls with curtains strung across them, into makeshift dressing rooms. Smiling, Piper walked over to the changing room and yanked the curtain closed behind her.

After changing—and deciding that she looked like a puffy candy cane and loved it—she stepped out. The back of two doctors greeted her as they conferred with Lucy. Lucy pointed at Piper and the doctors whirled around to face her. Piper felt her face going red. It was Coffee Guy!

"You!" They said in the same voice.

The other doctor, who was in his thirties with dark hair that shot up in sporadic patterns chuckled. "So, I guess you know each other."

Coffee Guy eyed her suspiciously. "You're the new candy striper?"

Piper frowned. "What, you got a problem with that?" she planted her hands on her hips.

"We'll have none of that." The other guy said good-naturedly. "I'm Dr. Greg Markovitz. This is my assistant, Leo Wyatt, part of the work study program."

Oh, so he wasn't really a doctor. "I'm Piper Halliwell." She said sweetly.

"Well, Piper," Greg said, "you'll be working with us in the ER."

Piper smiled weakly. "Does that mean there's going to be blood?"

Dr. Markovitz laughed heartily and he slung an arm over her shoulder and motioned for Leo to follow them. "Is there gonna be blood… I love this kid!"

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Phoebe was lying in her bed, music throbbing around her. The party had been really scary. That was a bad situation waiting to happen. She didn't want to think about what would have happened if Prue and Andy hadn't shown up. What those guys might have done to her. Just as she stopped the music to go get a drink, the doorbell rang. Piper was out volunteering—goody two shoes—Prue was meeting Andy for lunch. And Paige was…where _was_ Paige? The doorbell rang again, followed by in insistent knock. Grams was grocery shopping.

Phoebe swore and jumped off the bed and trotted down the steps in her baggy shorts and frayed t-shirt that said "I Heart (love) Barney" on it. She yanked the door open, fully expecting Grams with too many groceries or one of Prue's friends. It was Blender Boy with his hands behind his back.

Phoebe gasped, then swiftly shut the door in his face. There was another knock, a heartbeat, another knock and then finally: "Look, I'm sorry about last night. I was super wasted. I just woke up with the bruise and I actually remembered what happened. Just please open the door.

Slowly, Phoebe creaked the door open. Blender Boy held out a bouquet of pretty yellow flowers mixed with baby's breath. "What do you want?" she demanded.

Blender Boy sighed. "To apologize."

Cautiously, Phoebe reached out and took the bouquet. "Apology grudgingly accepted."

He smiled. "I'm Cole."

She grinned back. "_Phoebe_. Not Freebie."

His smiled wavered. "Phoebe who loves Barney?"

Phoebe looked down at her shirt and her face redden. "Thanks for the flowers." And then she slammed the door on him again.

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Prue laughed at Andy's story about his dad in Portland when the waiter arrived with their meals. They dug into twin meals of shrimp alfredo. "Excellent." Prue commented as she twirled a noodle around her fork.

"So, really," Andy said, "how've you really been?"

Prue shrugged. "Andy, not much has changed." She took a casual sip of iced tea. "Really. I'm going to UCLA, like I've wanted to. I've still got three sisters." She shrugged again. "Well what about you?"

Andy slurped up a noodle. "Me? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We can get some gorgeous weather up in Portland, but other than that…" he let the sentence die and sucked up another noodle.

"Where are you going to college?" Prue asked, grabbing a breadstick and pulling a piece off as she leaned back in her chair.

When Andy smiled, his eyes crinkled. "UCLA."

Prue nodded, though her mind was racing. Andy was going to _her_ college? UCLA was _hers_. He knew that. He knew that she was going to get back together with him, so it wouldn't be romantic. What was he thinking? Bastard. UCLA belonged to her. She'd imagined herself trotting across the campus, waving to the cute guy in her biology class and that girl who always smelled like Miracle Whip. She hadn't imagined running into Andy in the cafeteria or in the laundry room. Listening to him ramble—and suddenly it wasn't so funny—Prue sucked a piece of ice into her mouth.

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So far the worst case Piper had seen was a guy who'd jammed a pencil into his hand and was in total shock. There hadn't even been any blood. She finished up the lunch rounds and found Greg—which was what he said to call her—and Leo—the insufferable dick—by the main desk where Lucy had been switched out for a teeny black nurse with long wavy hair named Ginny. The way Greg was leaned across the table gave her the distinct impression that he was flirting with Ginny, so she walked up to Leo, A.K.A. Coffee Guy.

"What to do now?" She asked.

He looked from the chart he held. "Did you finish the lunch rounds?"

Piper nodded. "Done."

"Then go on your lunch break." He said as if it was the most sensible thing.

Piper nodded and started towards the hospital cafeteria. Just then a gurney rushed by. A man was shaking and shivering and spewing blood from his mouth while various doctors and nurses made to stop the bleeding from the wound in his stomach. Piper could feel her own stomach give out. She streaked towards the bathroom, and dropped to her knees in a stall, leaving the stall door wide open. She heaved and vomit plopped into the toilet.

"Oh God, are you alright?"

Piper, still clutching her stomach, lifted and turned her head to see Leo standing at the stall door. "Get out." She muttered. "It's the ladies, you can't be in here."

He made a sound that crossed between impatience and scoffing. "Please." He said finally. "I'm a doctor." Pause. "Sort of."

Piper laughed faintly and leaned back, resting her head against the stall wall. "That's reassuring."

He chuckled too and squatted next to her as she closed her eyes. "But seriously, are you okay?" He sounded nice when he said it, worried even.

Piper nodded and opened her eyes. "Yeah. It's just…the sight of blood. It makes me sick."

Leo lifted his eyebrows. "Then why'd you volunteer at a _hospital_?"

Piper shrugged and kind of laughed at herself, waving a hand. "You don't want to know."

He just gazed at her for a moment, wondering how such a funny girl had ended up in such a serious business when the door swung open and a suspicious aristocratic woman came in and the moment was ruined.

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That night, all four Halliwell sisters sat around the kitchen, eating chicken, broccoli and macaroni and cheese. Grams, who sat at the table smiled at Piper. "So Piper, how was the hospital?"

Piper looked thoughtful as she chewed her broccoli. "Well, there was this guy who was bleeding everywhere and that made me puke—" She broke off as Paige gazed down at her plate as though it wasn't very appetizing anymore. "Sorry." She added and stopped talking altogether.

Grams looked over to Prue who was frowning down at her chicken. "How was your day?" she asked.

Prue lifted her glare from her kitchen to her grandmother. "Sucked." She said bitterly.

Grams raised her eyebrows, but didn't comment. She turned to Phoebe. "What'd you do today?"

"I learned that Barney only gets you in trouble." Phoebe murmured, fingering a yellow flower petal.

Grams shook her head and turned to Paige. "What about you Paige?"

Angrily, Paige stabbed a spear of broccoli. "Nothing."

The rest of their dinner was eaten in silence.


	4. Why Boys Are DumbSmartHot

**AN: Thanks for your reviews! You guys rock in majorlicious way! **

"_It turns out everything I say to you,_

_Comes out wrong,_

_It never comes out right."_

—_Santana and Chad Kroger "Why Don't You and I" _

"Where are you off to?" Prue questioned the second-oldest sister as she rushed around the kitchen, one leg in her jeans, one hand stuffing a bagel in her mouth and her other trying to push a small earring into her ear.

Piper scowled. "To the hospital." She mumbled around a mouthful of bagel. "You know that."

Prue nodded. Yeah, she did. She was totally spacing. She was still a little messed up about the whole Andy-going-to-UCLA thing. Rephrase that: A _lot_ messed up. Like, what was he thinking. He knew she didn't have romantic feelings for him anymore. What was he thinking? He had his choice of colleges all over the country. In San Francisco even. But no. He had to have her school—

"Well!" Piper shrieked.

Prue's head snapped up from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. "Well what?"

"Too much?" She gestured with her chin to the rest of her body. Oh. Her outfit. Prue gave her sister the once-over. She wore tight-fitting jeans and a casual red halter top, more suited for the day than the one Prue had worn to that party.

Prue shook her head. "Nah." Then she grinned. "Who is he?"

Piper's face flushed. "Nobody."

"Oooh! Prue cooed. "Is he a hunky doctor, dead-set on a love affair with a sixteen-year-old?"

Piper planted her hands on her hips. "Bite me." She did her best aloof impression and left the room, only to have Phoebe come in her place. She gave no hello to her sister. But grabbed a Pop-Tart—blueberry—and took a big bite. She had on a cute track suit, pink and gray, very girl-next-door.

"Gimmie a ride to the park." Phoebe demanded. "I'll walk home, but give me a ride."

Prue snorted and flipped the page. "Phoebe, you hate physically activity. Of any kind."

"That's a lie!" Phoebe insisted, taking a large gulp of orange juice. "I like yoga."

"Because it's trendy."

"Because it's _healthy_." Phoebe insisted. "Have you seen Paige?"

"Nope, I thought she was still sleep." Prue replied, flipping another page.

Phoebe frowned. "Piper said that she hadn't seen her since yesterday."

Prue laughed lightly. "What does that girl _do_ with her time?"

Phoebe shrugged. "Who knows. Anyway, park? Now?"

Prue shrugged. "Sure." She stood up with Shakespeare's works. "It'd be nice to read outside for a while, anyway." Phoebe grinned.

88888888

Paige sat at a picnic table at the local park, scrawling her surroundings into a composition book. It was pretty cool for early summer, so she wore a beige hoodie for a shirt with jeans and her long wavy red hair blew around her, occasionally getting caught in her lip-gloss. She looked towards the basketball courts, where a bunch of boys were working up a sweat with a game of pick-up basketball.

Something happened on court that made two boys start to fight. One of which was Andy. Suddenly feeling a surge of loyalty—he was a friend of hers, too—Paige jumped up and ran toward the court. Before she made it to the chain link fence that enclosed them, a girl in a pink and gray track suit jogged up and shoved them apart, causing a bunch of boys to hoot appreciatively.

"Freebie!" They shouted. "Come play a game."

"Yeah!" One in particular called. "One on one!"

"Leave her alone!" Andy and the guy he'd almost gotten in the fight with shouted in the same voice. They looked at each other in surprise. Prue sprinted up the big green hill, she wore jeans and a blue tank top, because her denim jacket was still in the car. Paige, figuring it was a Halliwell takeover ran over to meet her sisters.

"Where've you been?" Prue question her.

"Here!" Paige replied incredulously. "I told you that this morning!"

"You did?" Prue looked doubtful.

"Yes!" Paige shouted. "I did!"

"You don't have to get mad about it, I forgot okay?"

"Why doesn't anyone ever pay attention to me!" Paige demanded.

"We do!" Prue insisted.

88888888

At the hospital, it was nearing lunchtime, and Piper was not looking forward to the cafeteria. It had been a week since that horrible incident that made her puke, but she'd seen a lot of blood that day and wasn't sure if she could stomach eating on the same premises where she had seen said blood.

While running charts over to the front desk, she slammed directly into Leo, who was going in to see a patient. Charts scattered around them. She looked up into his face as he grinned at her. "We have to stop meeting like this." He quipped. She smiled sheepishly. She wasn't sure when he went from being the dickhead coffee guy to the hottest thing she'd ever seen, but she knew he was. And it made her nervous every time she saw him.

"Yeah." She replied lamely. She stooped down to retrieve the charts. "Which one was yours?" she asked, gathering them in her arms.

"Dominguez." He replied. She handed him the file. He glanced at his watch. "Listen, it's almost lunchtime, you wanna grab something to eat?"

Seeing as the hospital was downtown, they were plopped down right in the middle of some rather nice bistros. "Sure." Piper replied with a smile.

Leo grinned back. "Great. Let me check on Dominguez real quick, change and then we'll get going."

She smiled and nodded demurely, though inside she was practically bursting.

88888888

At the park, Phoebe, Prue, Andy and Cole sat around a picnic bench—the one Paige had vacated to be precise—eating McDonalds.

"…It's all a big misunderstanding." Cole was saying as he rubbed the tips of his salt covered fingers on a napkin. "I was drunk."

"So you get drunk a lot, then?" Prue asked sharply, earning her a kick from her sister under the table. They exchanged looks, Phoebe's clearly saying: _this guy's a hottie, shut up for a second_. Prue's said: _Pheebes, I'm just looking out for you_. Phoebe scowled and sucked Sprite from her cup.

Cole shook his head. "No way. Well, I probably drink too much for my own good, but that night…" he shifted uncomfortably. "Look, I'm really sorry, okay?" He seemed to be speaking to the table in general. Andy frowned so deeply, that Cole looked taken aback for a second. Cole shook his head. "I'm new. I just moved here. Hell, I thought she liked being called Freebie. For all I knew, she started the whole nickname herself. Some girls are like that."

Phoebe gasped indignantly and reached over to punch him in the shoulder.

"Ow, damn it! I'm sorry!" He looked over at her in half-shock, half-apology. Phoebe sniffed and took another sip of her drink.

88888888

Piper followed Leo to the lockers where he had his personal belongs stashed. Piper had taken to wearing her uniform over her clothes, so she looked like modern day fairy between the puffy candy cane uniform and her jeans. All she had to do was take off the uniform and stick it in her car. He however, decided to change into something more casual than his white jacket and stiff white shirt.

She realized it looked a lot like the locker rooms at school. "Whoa." She said under her breath. The resemblance really was uncanny.

"What?" he asked her as she turned a circle.

She started to say "nothing", but when she turned to around to face him again, she broke off. He was naked. Well, from the waist up anyway. And…oh. While there was nothing very Mr. Universe about him, he did have his attributes. She lowered herself onto the bench.

He didn't seem to notice her staring as she shrugged into a slightly diaphanous olive green button down shirt. "So where do you wanna get lunch?"

Piper, in haze of lusty fantasies asked: "Where do I want to do _what_?"

Leo turned to her as he buttoned the last three buttons. "Get lunch. Are you okay?"

Piper shook her head. "I mean, yeah, I am." She stood abruptly. "As long as we can stop by my car." She smiled. "I've got to get rid of these clothes." She blushed because of the way it sounded, coupled with her lurid thoughts. "I mean, my uniform."

He smiled too. "Then let's go. I'm starved."

88888888

Andy and Prue decided to drive over to the movies and see what was playing. Nothing. So they drove back to her house where everyone was absent. They went straight up to her bedroom. For some reason, Prue could feel her heart beating wildly.

They stepped in and Andy gave a low whistle. "Whoa."

"Whoa what?" Prue asked, dropping her purse onto her bureau.

"This takes me back." He admitted. He started a circuit of the room, brushing his hand over old mementos. "Hey," he said when he reached her desk, "where's the picture of us at the amusement park?"

Prue sat on her bed. "In a box marked 'I HATE HIM' sitting in the bottom of my closet."

Andy chuckled quietly. "Really?"

"Really."

Prue glanced out the window. Little yellow and blue flowers shifted in the wind in the house next door as the afternoon sunlight beat down on them. Her heart still wouldn't stop beating so fast. Andy sat next to her, uncomfortably close. "I've missed you." He whispered, leaning in close.

"I've missed you too." She admitted, her lips grazing his.

"Really?"

"Really."

He pressed his lips to her own and she opened her mouth invitingly. Her eyes fluttered shut and he moved his hand under the strap of her tank top, sliding it off her shoulder. "…Mmph, Andy, wait." She put her hands at his shoulders and pushed him away. "I don't know if we should—"

"You don't have to worry." He assured her, smoothing the strap away from her other shoulder. "It's not like we haven't done this a million times."

When they were together, yeah. But somehow, it didn't matter that they were broken up. It didn't matter that he was all sweaty and gross from playing basketball. All that mattered was that he was Andy and he was back and that she really had missed him.

88888888

Piper laughed at a story Leo told about how he fell out of a tree. He seemed to find the humor in it too, because he laughed along with her. "It was horrible. I nearly sprained my arm."

Piper was still laughing anyway. Leo stopped and took a casual sip from his lemonade. "How old are you anyway?"

Piper sobered up immediately. She'd been sort of dreading this conversation. "I'm sixteen. How old are you."

"Nineteen." He admitted. "But, you know, my major is pre-med, that's how come I get internship at the hospital."

"Oh." Nineteen. That wasn't so bad. Only three years. "I thought you were like, twenty-two or something."

He seemed to think this was funny too. "Nah, nineteen."

She took a drink of lemonade. "You must be really focused to know what you want to do with your life."

Leo shrugged. "I guess. I've always had an affinity for medicine and generally, I know what I'm doing. Or, well, I'm learning to know what I'm doing." He gave her a look. "What do you want to do? Surely it's not in the medical field." His mouth quirked in a half smile.

She squirmed. "Well, actually, I want to be an actress." When he didn't reply, she launched into an explanation. "Well, I mean, I know it's really flighty work, and I know I'm supposed to have, like, a back-up plan, but I don't want to go get a business degree or something like that—"

"Slow down." He said, smiling. "I admire you. It takes courage to do something with no guarantees. That's a complement." He added.

Piper smiled.


	5. Near Kisses and Misses

_"I don't want another pretty face,_

_I don't want just anyone to hold,_

_I don't want my love to go to waste,_

_I want you and your beautiful soul."_

_--Jesse McCartney, "Beautiful Soul"_

"…still, people refuse to eat apples. They would have to come to the doctor a lot less." Leo said, picking over the remains of his lunch.

Piper laughed and tossed her hair over her shoulders. "Then, there would be a shortage of patients, and you would be out of work and all this volunteer program stuff and med school will have been for nothing."

Leo scrunched up his nose. "Yeah, but then they would come in for stupid shit."

Piper laughed. "Like, check-ups?"

"Yeah."

She snorted. For a week or so, she and Leo had been hanging out. Not just in the office—er, hospital—but outside it too. There was massive ST—sexual tension—as Paige liked to call it, around them and everybody saw it. Even Dr. Markovitz kept asking them when they were going to go ahead and jump each others bones. Leo thought it was it funny, she on the other hand found it highly embarrassing. Dr. Markovitz meant it as a laugh, but he was kind of serious too.

They'd spent a good deal of the day together already. She thought back on the day as he excused himself to the bathroom. He'd picked her up in a—good God—red convertible. It was his, he had said, a graduation gift from his dad. She had had the feeling his dad could afford to give those away as tying-your-shoes-for-the-thirty-billionth-time gift. Then, they'd gone into this little district downtown and done some light shopping. He wore khaki colored cargo pants and a baseball tee with the red Pacman monster on it. It made him look adorable. He grinned when she poked it and told her that he was the champ.

"I want to prove my Pacman skills." He said, dropping into his seat again. "You wanna go to the arcade?"

Piper grinned. "Sure."

88888888

At the Halliwell Manor, Prue sat braiding and unbraiding her hair. Mostly, it was something to distract her. She sat crossed legged on her bed and couldn't help from thinking about that that was the same bed she and Andy had had sex in.

_Had sex in._

She'd started packing yesterday. It was tedious work, deciding what could wait until the last minute—she totally needed her yearbook. Around her, boxes sat half full with clothes and books and other various knick knacks spilling out of them. Paige came in a wrinkly pink bandana tied around her head. "Okay!" she said cheerily. "I'm going to help you pack!"

Prue raised an inquisitive brow and reached up to undo a teeny-tiny braid. "Really? And how do you know what I need?"

Paige made a noise like it wasn't important. "I'll ask you. Besides, I'm not dumb, I can figure it out."

Prue nodded. Paige reached into her closet and yanked out a handful of clothes. "Going or staying?" she asked, holding up a yellow tanktop.

"Staying." Prue said instantly. "I might wear that tomorrow."

"Going or staying?"

"Staying."

"Going or staying?"

"Staying."

88888888

At the basketball court, our completely athletic-resentful Phoebe was kicking some Cole ass in Horse. Phoebe knew that if Cole missed this next shot, he'd have an E and the game would be over. He missed.

Phoebe let out a whoop and jumped into his arms. "I kicked your _ass_!" she shouted, poking him in the chest. "I beat you _down_!"

"I let you win." Cole teased dropping her on a picnic table. Phoebe immediately jumped up on it and started dancing.

"We are the champions, my friend! We'll keep on _fight_ing till the end!" She pumped her fist in the air as she did her best rendition of "We Are The Champions." This sent Cole laughing and he couldn't stop. Finally, mid-way through "Can't Touch This" she noticed. "Quit it." She said, nudging him with her toe.

"I—can't." he wheezed between chuckles.

"You better!" she kicked him, but that just made things funnier. She planted her hands on her hips. "You big idiot!" she said hotly. "Fine, just fine, laugh all you want."

She jumped off the table and started off towards the soccer field. "Wait!" Cole called, chasing after her. Phoebe let out a faux-terrified scream and started running. She had a head start, but his legs were longer and seeing as how she was so anti-athletic, he'd run a lot more. Soon, he was there and pounced on her, landing them both in the soft grass. They lay there a moment, heart pounding in unison, breath ragged for a few seconds. His eyes were intent on hers. She knew where this was going. He would kiss her and a few days later somebody she knew would say something about how Freebie had no qualms about getting down and dirty in the park. She was virgin for godssake! But it wouldn't matter. Just as Cole lowered his head, Phoebe took the chance to roll out from under him.

"Catch me if you can!" And she zoomed towards the kid's playground.

88888888

The arcade was an array of bright lights, kids, and toys. Leo was going entirely manic on the Pacman machine, sending Piper into a fit of giggles every time he swore in Spanish, which was often. Evidently, he took Spanish in school and knew all the cuss words. She had the feeling he was saying them in Spanish to protect her womanly ears. While it was completely old-fashioned and she'd always heard worse at school, it was endearing too.

Finally he was finished and had captured the high score. "Told you I was good." He said smugly, throwing an arm around her shoulders. Piper flushed hot pink, but fanned at her cheeks for a second, willing herself to calm down. "Look!" Leo shouted, pointing a riding game. It was the kind where you sat on the vehicle—dune buggy, boat, car, take your pick—and controlled it using the handles. Whatever you did in the game the vehicle did as well. You went over a bump on the screen, the vehicle you rode bumped up and down too. "Let's do it."

"It says one at a time." She replied cautiously, as he threw one leg over the side of the land jet ski. At least, that was what it looked like.

"So?" he said. "Come on." He tapped the seat and the little square of space that was left between his legs. "You know you want to."

Piper laughed and scooted into the seat. He slipped two quarters into the slot and the machine came to life with a rapid bucking motion. She let out a scream and reached out to the handles to steady herself. One long tanned arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him. She felt her stomach lurch. Soon, they were going full speed across the virtual beach, but this game wasn't either of their expertise and soon was the game got harder, they were getting flung around more and more.

"You know," Leo grunted. "This probably wouldn't be so hard if there was only one of us."

Piper laughed. "It was your idea." After a few more minutes of that wild ride, the game slowed and they got off. The game seemed to have gotten her hyped up. "Okay, what next?"

Leo shrugged. "That's up to you, dumplin'."

She smiled to herself. _Dumplin'_. That was so cute. "We're in the mall. Let's go to the food court!" Suddenly, she was starving.

He grinned a lazy grin. "Lead the way."

88888888

"Prue!" Paige snapped. "You cannot keep everything!"

Prue's bangs were totally crinkly now because of her braiding and unbraiding. "I know! But I want to!"

"Knock, knock." Prue and Paige looked up to see Andy standing in the doorway. His hands were in his pockets and he was smiling softly.

Paige jumped up and toddled out punching Andy in the shoulder on the way. Andy shut the door behind her and walked over to Prue, sitting on the bed next to her. "Hey." Prue said conversationally.

"Hey." And replied. "Listen, I—"

Before he knew what had happened, she'd kissed him. Whatever he wanted her to listen about was forgotten.

88888888

When she got home, Piper found that the kitchen was a swarm of sisters and food. "Outta my way!" Phoebe said as she careened by, heading towards the kitchen. Prue and Paige was already there, eagerly digging into their meals.

"You coming Pips?" Prue called, wiping her mouth on a napkin.

"Not hungry." She called back and went onto her room. There it was quiet and it made her smile. She sat down on her bed and waited. One…Two…Three…the phone rang and Piper picked up immediately. "Leo. Hi…"

**AN: Wassup?**

**TVCrazed: Um, what the hell does McDonalds mean? Thanks for your review!**

**o0o-vicki-o0o**** Thanks! I like cute. I didn't know that The Calling had a version of "Why Don't You and I". I'll have to check it out. **

**LeoPiper –Forever: Yeah, I like Piper and Leo the best too, but this fic started out a fic about all four sisters and I just can't abandon that now. But me too. **

**charmedone112685: Most of the time, I don't do teen fics, let alone four sister fics, but I thought it was a challenge and I went after it. Hope I'm doing okay.**

**lillynilly, emelie172, drew fuller is the best: Thank you!**

**So, let me know if I start to neglect one sister's story, because I'm trying to avoid that, but I'm a PiperLeo writer at heart so, I may begin to pay a lot of attention to their story in particular. Note: Paige's story if you'll notice, is not being neglected. It's just worked into the others. Thanks and please review!**

**Gemini**


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